Sure, the American dream promises that a life of hard work will be rewarded with years of convalescence, but is that really the case? A study released by the Pew Institute late last year found that one in five Americans over the age of 65 are still working twice as often as they did 35 years ago. Meanwhile, according to a July 2023 survey by Ipsios, 29% of Americans under the age of 55 think they will never retire. Another survey from the Labor Welfare Research Institute found that one-third of American workers think they will retire at age 70 or later or never. That's right, contrary to what you think, Americans are not all that leisurely at old age.

The truth is that in the world's largest economy, the group of workers over 75 years old makes up only a small portion of the workforce but is the fastest growing slice.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2002, about 5% of people over 75 years old were working, but by 2022 this number had increased to 8%, it is estimated that by 2032 this proportion will reach 10% while the proportion of young workers is stable or even slightly decreasing. But why do Americans work all their lives? Because they are so greedy for work, they don't like a sad life. The answer is not so simple. The US is one of the countries with the highest retirement age in the world, the earliest retirement age in the US is 62 years old. However, according to the Government's new regulations, those born in 1960 or later will retire at age 67. But if you were born in 1960 or later, what's the problem?

Let's review history a bit. In 1945, World War II ended, it was the war that cost the most money and lives in history, but like any post-World War II disaster, the United States went through a period called the baby boom, children born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boomers were richer, more active and healthier than any previous generation, this powerful workforce created huge amounts of wealth for the economy, At the same time, consumerism skyrocketed.

On this birth rate chart, the baby bomb period is the red line. You can see that the birth rate reached its highest level in 1949, and has gradually decreased since 1958. By 1963, America's birth rate reached the same level as the era and again declined, and since the Baby Booms were born, this generation has been or is pushing into retirement age. If when they are young they create a powerful workforce that helps America become extremely wealthy, then when they are old they become a huge army of pensioners and of course, with millions of retirees each year, there is no small pressure on the social security system.

To balance this army of retirees, America needs a large replacement workforce. However, the US population is shrinking like never before, according to the US Census Bureau. The country's median age in 2022 will reach a record number of 38.9 years old. To explain a little more, with a median age of 38.9, it means that the US has exactly the same number of people over 38.9 years old as the number of people younger than this mark. That shows that the US population is unusually old. In 1980 the median age was only 30, and by 2000 the median age in the US had skyrocketed to 35. The next two decades passed and the median age in the US increased to nearly 39.

The first reason for this situation is that in the period after the 2008 global economic crisis, the birth rate has decreased significantly compared to previous generations. The second factor is that women of the GenY generation born between 1981 and 1996 tend to prioritize studying and working when they are young. This leads them to marry later and have fewer children. Third, most immigrants to the US in the past are people of working age who often have more children than people who have been in the US for many generations. However, since 2016, the number of immigrants entering the US has decreased, even hitting bottom during the covid-19 epidemic.

Thus, the situation is basically that the proportion of retirees is greater than the number of young workers, which will threaten the collapse of the social security fund and the Medicare health program, which takes tax money from current workers to pay for retired workers. The business insider site once surveyed 2,700 Americans about their feelings about the economic situation and retirement plans. Just over half answered how much money they needed to have a comfortable old age and the average number given was 1.27 million USD, which is 30 billion VND. But most of them are only saving less than $90,000. The main source of income for retirees in the US is from social security pension funds and private savings. But surveys show that few people have enough of all three sources, some even have none. Why is that?

Over the past five decades, America's retirement system has seen a significant trend toward workers being more likely to benefit from 401(k)-style pension plans than traditional plans. How are they different? Traditional pensions, known as defined benefit plans, are fixed-amount payments that are sometimes based on how long the employee has worked at the company and how much they are paid. In contrast, plans like a 401(k) pay out based on the amount the employee contributes over the course of their employment and are subject to market fluctuations.

For decades traditional pension plans guaranteed workers a stable retirement, with the average American receiving a pension receiving $25,000 annually. But the growing popularity of retirement plans like the 401k has contributed to inequality. This is easy to understand because people in higher-income occupations tend to contribute more, so they will receive higher pensions. In other words, retirement has become a luxury available only to those who can afford it, while fewer and fewer low-income households have balances in retirement accounts, and also because retirement is tied to salary and contributions.

Women have fewer and fewer opportunities to have retirement savings than men, simply because when working in the same position, women are often paid lower wages than men. Therefore, many people decide to still work even at the age of 60 or 70, both because their health is good and they have more finances before retiring and to cover their daily lives. A survey by the Chance America retirement research center shows that nearly half of the baby boom generation expects to retire after age 70 or not at all. In recent years, things have not gone as planned for many retirees, including covid-19 and stubbornly high inflation, making pensions nothing.

The National Council on Aging and the University of Massachusetts Boston analyzed wealth data on 20,000 US adults. Their conclusion was startling: up to 80% of seniors in the US lack the financial resources to pay for two years of care in a nursing home or four years in a retirement community. Meanwhile, 60% of older people cannot afford to pay for long-term care at home, but just having a home or being able to go to a nursing home is already great. In recent years, the number of older adults at risk and currently experiencing homelessness has increased rapidly in the United States.

The Office of Behavioral Health Policy's Research Institute on Disability and Aging found that as of 2021 people age 55 and older accounted for nearly one-fifth of the homeless population in the United States. This study estimates that the group of Americans aged 50 and older experiencing homelessness will triple by 2030. More and more Americans are worried about retirement and worry about not knowing how much money they will have and how long they will be able to spend it. To cope with this, many seniors go back to school to learn how to retire. The University of Colorado program, for example, held a graduation ceremony for 17 first-year students, half of whom were newly retired. The rest are about to settle down, spending more than $3,000 or two nights a week for 4 months.

Students are taught how to plan goals and implement do's and don'ts. Although not everyone can break it all, the class gives them more choices and better preparation before retirement. Of course, not all older people continue to work for the sake of earning a living. For many people, work has truly become their love and driving force in life. Working into your 60s, 70s, or even beyond is not easy, but many people see it as a way to have an adventure every day.

Contrary to the popular belief that older people are financially stable, in reality the American dream is much more intense. Learning how to retire properly and continuing to work with an open mind is probably the best scenario for the path that many Americans will have to take, especially when America is getting older, and social security is increasingly uncertain. Old people who cannot retire in America live half a world away in a country much richer than Vietnam. But it will certainly give us many thoughts about our own future.